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IX 




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§ 



GREENWOOD 



IN 



1853. 



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7t 

RAMBLING REFLECTIONS 



IN 



GEEEI¥OOD; 



WITH 



A DESCRIPTION OF THE SAME 



IN 1853. 



U^ 



.. BY CAMPEADOR, kx;_-A 



And when I die, oh let me rot, 
Far from the haunts of man ; 

And raise no stone to mark the spot, 
For wand'ring eye to scan ! 



(/> NEW YORK: 

J PRINTED BY GEORGE W. WOOD, NO. 2 DUTCH- STREET. 

18 5 3. 



fi»''(;i> 



-f 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, 

BY THE AUTHOR, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of 
New York. 



l '? • 



nnttnts. 



Preface 5 

Introduction 9 

Journey 14 

Entrance 1 V 

Fireman's Monument 20 

Fountain 22 

New Grounds 24 

Ocean Hill 27 

Plain 30 

Plain continued . . , 32 

Deep Wood Dell 33 

Miscellaneous Localities 37 

Sea Captain's Monument 38 

Chesnut Hill 40 

Battle Hill 42 

Old Entrance 49 

Sylvan Water :' 53 

Valediction 58 

Notes 59 



ERRATA.— Page 29. Omit the commas after "Loyola," "unmiudful," "of course," aad 

" order." 



" Between the acting of a dreadful thing 
And the first motion, all the interim is 
Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream : 
The genius and the mortal instruments 
Are then in council ; and the state of man, 
Like to a little kingdom, suffers then 
The nature of an insurrection." Shakspeaee. 

The relaxations of labor affording mncli valu- 
able time wliicli might be interestingly employed, 
it occurred to me to record the passing ideas which 
floated unheeded over the surface of the mind. 
" Ce n^est que le jpremier pas qui coute ; " therefore, 
in choosing a theme, I have endeavored to select 
one which would allow ample latitude to the vari- 
ous moods to which I might be subjected. Con- 
sidering the mind to be, as it were, a mere pack- 
horse, originating nothing of itself, only bearing 



6 PREFACE. 

onward tlie ideas as they occur, to tliat grand re- 
ceptacle of lost wit, St. John's Repositor}^, I have 
thought it most agreeable to allow the imagination 
to roam, "oci lihitum,'' through the intellectual 
space, in search of matter to load the panniers of 
the incomprehensible beast. 

" From gay to grave, from lively to severe," 
has been my style, and if the change be sudden, 
the contrast onl}^ brings the sublime and its anti- 
thesis into more laughable juxtaposition. 'Tis a 
dead subject I have chosen, monotonous as the 
graye ; — " Greenwood," — and yet its name would 
remind us of " Sherwood Forest," " Robin Hood/' 
and "Friar Tuck." Ah! that was a merry 
"Greenwood" then, but now the Forester is 
Death; the Black Pall in lieu of the Kirtle 
Green ; — his arms a Whetstone and a Scythe, he 
marches on us unaAvares and mows us down, and 
with a grin he mocks our agonies. " To die ; — to 
sleep ; — perchance to dream ; " — but in the dream 
of death what thoughts may come I cannot tell, 



PEEFACE. 7 

for as yet I have not peeped through the " Dark 
Lattice" Mrs. Hemans says '' opens to futurity." 
''^ De mortuis nil nisi verum;^'' — but if the dead 
are only "at supper," as Hamlet says, "not where 
they eat, but where they are eaten ; " and we, 
" poor worms," as preachers call us, are the revel- 
lers, surely 'tis no crime to be facetious ! And if 
the meats be somewhat tainted, " bon vivants' 
like the food so savored. "(7^*^ bono P' 1 speak in 
Latin, which, being a dead language, is under- 
stood in Hades. " Qui bono V^ which, being ren- 
dered into the vernacular, signifies what good will 
ensue from my labor ? To some, the pleasure of 
whiling away a tedious hour in mental recreation, 
partaking of the "^3a6^6?wm animV whilst enjoy- 
ing the fragrant weed of the Antilles. To myself 
it matters not, so long as I continue to find a vent 
for the morbid feelings which induce me to seek 
companionship with the dead. ^'- Risum teneatis 
amid!''' Friends, it is not wise to laugh; it en- 
genders wind, — wind breeds colic, and then the 



8 PREFACE. 

raven caws at your window ; or his substitute en- 
ters your cliamber, and witli sanctimonious face 
prates of an " Hereafter," and begs some money 
to buy a new saint, or convert some heathen (for 
money is the means of grace) who would quit this 
world much happier without his interference. 

I am digressing. Greenwood has its charms, 
silent ones I admit; and, hoping that you may 
not soon become one of them, I will now proceed 
to the Introduction. 



EAMBLIKG 

REFLECTIONS IN GREENWOOD. 



Siitrn&urtinii. 



" Here we but feel the penalty of Adam, 
The Season's difference : as, the icy fang, 
And churlish chiding of the Winter's wind ; 
Which when it bites and blows upon our bodies, 
Even till we shrink with cold, we smile, and say,— 
This is no flattery : these are counsellors 
That feelingly persuade us what we are." 

Shakspeare. 

Greenwood Cemetery was incorporated in 
1838, and contains 320 acres, well timbered, and 
beautifully diversified with bills and dales. 
Though only a few years since it has been opened 
to the public, as a place of resort, it is becoming 
much frequented, and its shady retreats offer 
strong inducements to the contemplative to mean- 



10 RAMBLING REFLECTIONS 

der tlirongh its circuitoiis routes. Here " stirs 
the feeling infinite " — liere the melanclioly stu- 
dent may muse upon the mutability of man — 
" Oh Homhre cuan mudahles eres I " — Or, ambitious 
votary reflect how ignobly great men sink to rest, 
be they demigods or demidevils, whose souls have 
gone, we know not where, until the day mankind 
shall meet, as parsons tell us, in the great valley 
Jehosaphat called, to hear the doom willed from 
Eternity — or the Kiobe indulge her tears, until 
charmed by the sweet lullaby of Nature, the 
watery fount dries up. All, of every race, con- 
dition, sex, may learn a lesson from the mournful 
page which lies before them. 

Much taste has been developed in grading the 
soil so as to derive the fullest advantages from the 
natural elevations and pleasing undulations of the 
ground, as well as from the numerous springs 
with which it abounds, which, seeking their re- 
spective levels, spread themselves out into petty 
lakes, whose waters, glancing in the bright sun- 
shine of a summer's day, enhance the beauties 4)f 
the scene. The magnificent views of the sur- 
rounding ocean, the bay, the neighboring islands, 
aud the distant landscape, invite to frequent repe- 



IN GKEENWOOD. 11 

titions of the visit. The main avenue, called the 
Tour, winds picturesquely through the green- 
wood, and is intersected" by numerous others 
diverging to the principal mounds, which are 
traversed by pathways to the many monuments. 
All are welcome to wander its maze, but in order 
to prevent desecration some formality is neces- 
sary. A ticket of admission is demanded from 
all who seek to enter its pale, which may be 
readily obtained from any undertaker, or fron; 
the obliging Jehu who drives you to the gate. 

Strange as it may appear, my countrymen have 
not yet merged from the semisavage state of west- 
ern Aborigine, and vie with Goth or Yandal in 
apparent hate of cultured arts, as painting, statu- 
ary, or relief, and deface all ornaments of skill, as 
if, conscious of inferiority, these mute emblems of 
a refined age reminded them of their barbaric 
origin. 

Greece and Eome adorned even the common 
highways with fountains, statues, and flowers. 
Tlie Aj'ab and the Hindoo plant date and fruit 
trees in their public places for refreshment and 
for shade, but here, in Freedom's favorite land, a 
strong police is necessary to protect the very 



12 RAMBLIXG REFLECTIONS 

grave from violation, to say nothing of tlie marble 
and flowers. 

I like well the group in Laurel Hill, though 
borrowed of a Scott, of Old Mortality bending on 
a tomb of buried martyr, restoring the worn 
inscription that Time only had well nigh effaced. 
Who does not remember the malicious disposition 
displayed by English or Yankee wanderer in pil- 
fering or destroying all within his reach ? Pom- 
peii and Herculaneum, though recently discover- 
ed, are robbed of all their valuables. Even Pom • 
pay's Pillar and the tombs of Egypt did not es- 
cape their destructive thievishness. Greece and 
Italy have felt the marauding hands of Elgin and 
Napoleon, and the good old Constitution bears 
the name of Jackass Frigate from Elliot's cruise 
in her, when from the Mediterranean he came 
freighted with old tombs and live asses. At home 
the salutary fear of prison prevents abstraction, 
but the penknife or the hatchet leaves little upon 
which Time may exert himself. Go where you 
will through the Atlantic States you witness mile- 
stones mutilated. The rifle ball has done the 
work, or teamster's axe accomplished it. The 
monuments at Baltimore, the watchtower of that 



IN GREENWOOD. 13 

sacred edifice at Philadelphia, " Independence 
Hall," all bear marks of savage usage. ''• Noraen 
stultis est uhique ! " and the stupid ass, who whit- 
tles away the very pinnacle forgets, " the higher 
the monkey mounts the more he shows his tail,'' 
and that the honor he covets is only an execrable 
fame. Praying, dear reader, that your discretion 
will prevent you from disfiguring any of the little 
mementos to departed worth, and the covetous- 
ness of female visitors be so far overcome by their 
veneration for the mouldering dead as to render 
further precautions unnecessary, we will now 
commence the Journey thither. 

2 



14 KAMBLING KEFLECTIONS 



'(Eljr 3 nil run}. 



" Jucundus rn via pro vebiculo est." 

"Make your best haste; and go uot 
Too far in the laud : 'tis like to be loud weather; 
Besides, this place is famous for the creatures 
Of prey that keep upon it," Shakspeare. 

Crossing Fulton Ferry to Brooklyn an omni- 
bus awaits to convey us direct to the Cemetery. 
A few blocks and we reach the Burnt District. 
In 1848 a destructive fire swept the vast area 
from Henry to Pineapple street, and both sides of 
Fulton lay a heap of smoking ruins, but Phoenix- 
like from out the ashes rose superior buildings, 
vying with New York. 

Further on we see the City Hall, a handsome 
dolomite edifice beautifully constructed. A green 
sward surrounded by an iron rail isolates the 
municipal pile Here stood the Hay Scales, and 
the Old Jail, since removed to Fort Green, on 
which eminence traces of the Old Kedoubt still 
remain. 



IX GREENWOOD. 15 

Within view of tliis spot, Avliere the disciples 
of Gseineliel assemble to bind the bandage still 
tighter which obscures the eyes of Justice, lest 
she mete them " measure for measure," arise a 
dozen spires, whence the name " City of Church- 
es." We now enter Court-street. A few years 
ago this was a wild, but now, how changed ! The 
location and the taste with which South Brooklyn 
is laid out, and the quiet it enjoys, have gained 
for it the appellation, " Westminster of New 
York." Yet let not the seductive title gain too 
eager admiration, for when the alarm bell peals 
forth its dreadful note, bitter dissensions dwell 
among us, and the arm once stretched forth to 
save is paralyzed with hate, or spent with vindic- 
tive rage, and the stars, emblems of an impartial 
Omnipotence, blink favoringly on the rioters. 
Nor is this all, for, having escaped each other 
evil, the rapacious maw of the Landlord exacts 
the accumulated toil of the entire year. " Vce 
victis ! " Woe to him of little means ! We still 
progress. Gowanus Creek now presents itself, 
memorable for the fate of Sullivan's and Lord 
Stirling's brigades, which were defeated hard by, 
crimsoning the salt tide with human gore in 



16 KAMBLING REFLECTIONS 

Freedom's name, nor yet complete the sacrifice 
had not the savior, Washington, by a most mas- 
terly retreat rescued the survivors of that disas- 
trous day. Better pens than mine record the 
fame he won, unequaled save by him who led the 
Ten Thousand from the heart of Persia. Go- 
wanus — what shall I say of it ? In vain the 
stranger accustomed to the Hessian villages of 
Pennsylvania looks at it. The Blacksmithshop, 
the Big Tavern, the Yillage Church, and the Old 
School House, all seem wanting. A few peaked 
gables daubed with red alone betray its German 
origin. It is a hybrid suburb to the City of the 
Dead. We now pass the lane leading to the 
original entrance, the pathway to the grave trav- 
ersed by funeral cortege. On the one hand all 
are forbidden to approach save those who escort 
the remains of the emigrant to the Stygian Shades ; 
on the other, a pleasure garden and saloon invite 
the wayfarer to partake of the fleeting pleasures 
of the moment, mingling mirth with sadness, dis- 
sipation with the stern reality of Death ; and op- 
posite, a public house reminds us that all earth is 
a caravansary, in which we travellers await the 
passports to another world. Again for a time 



IN GREENWOOD. 17 

Nature assumes a brighter hue ; the sad mementos 
disappear from view, and a broad expanse of 
water meets the eye. Oh, for a Bulwer to de- 
scribe our bay ! Had he visited T^ew York prior 
to Italy, Zanoni had not been. Enough; the 
New Entrance lies before us. 



" The Gates of Hell are open ni^ht and day ; 
Smooth the descent, and easy is the way: 
But, to return, and view the cheerful skies — 
In this the task and mighty labor lies." Dryden. 

Quitting the lumbering vehicle and its bare- 
bone steeds, we wend our way on foot. On the 
right, approaching the Necropolis, a small pa- 
vilion stands, beneath the dome of which arises a 
spring of clear crystal water, and like to the fabu- 
lous river on the outskirts of Hell, it must be 
passed ere we enter the precincts of the dead. 
The threshold reached, on either hand we view a 
structure of antique architecture : the one, " a 
dextris," surmounted by a spire, from which ex- 
tends a dial, (strange finger post to indicate the 



18 RAMBLING REFLECTION'S 

passage to eternity !) is tlie reception room ; the 
other, of humbler pretensions, yet no sybiFs cave, 
is occupied by the gate-keeper, who lives continu- 
ally on the verge of the grave without any desire 
to put his foot into it. Astonishing indifference, 
if he believe that "there the wicked cease to 
trouble and the weary are at rest ! " a saying much 
to be doubted since the late communications of 
Judge Edmonds with the spirit world. Over the 
gate no inscription stares us in the face, as Dante 
states to have been over the archedway to the 
Italian Hell, " Id Us ne ]}arlent pas Francais^^'' 
however outlandish the " rich Irish brogue" may 
sound to disappointed ears. No warning voice for- 
bids the entrance, although the " Procul este pro- 
fanij'' is enforced against all who come unpro- 
vided with the necessary passport, the tribute to 
the Cerberus who guards the vestibule. This of- 
fering made, the first thing that attracts our gaze 
in entering, is a small Grrecian temple with a col- 
lonade front, the mausoleum of a patent-medicine 
vender, in which he hopes to protect his manes 
from the ghosts untimely sent to people Hades. 
He roams about as yet, vampirelike living on the 
lives of others, too wise to take his own panacea. 



IN" GREENWOOD. 19 

Taking tlie Tour througli the New Grounds to 
the eastward, tlie patient labor of those who earn 
their bread by toiling for the benefit of decaying 
humanity wins upon our regard, and the vast 
Golgotha, deprived of its sombre hue, assumes a 
cheerful guise ; and as we view its woods and 
glens, speculation wonders Avhere are they, the 
primitive possessors, who roamed its wilds ere 
came the silent inhabitants who moulder here ! 
Are they — 

"But mingled millions decomposed to clay? 
The ashes of a thousand ages spread 
Wherever man has trodden or shall tread ? " 

Time, thou hast done with them as thou wilt with 
these, whose hopes of immortality depend on 
sculptured marble or crumbling stone ! There is 
no looking back with thee ! Thy swift foot is 
ever onward, urging the willing, dragging the re- 
luctant, until ail have passed thy bourne, and 
their very footprints are effaced by thy oblitera- 
ting march ! 

Musing, I walked and thought of those who 
sleep beside the Appian or Appulian way, and 
heeded naught until the figure of a fireman, tow- 
ering in stone, broke my meditation. 



20 RAMBLING EEFLECTIONS 



" * * * The crackling fiames appear on high, 
And driving sparkles dance along the sky; 
With Vulcan's rage the rising T<'inds conspire. 
And near our dwelling rolls the flood of fire." 

Drydex. 

Near Tulip Hill a square column rears its head, 
from whose dizzy height peers down a lifelike 
statue of one of those brave men who peril life 
and limb to save others and their svibstance from 
the devouring flame. An infant in his arms he 
bears ; and yet, how often when the alarum 
sounded tossed he his babe into its mother's arms, 
and rushed to endure the pelting storm, the bitter 
cold, to "man the rope," and drag his loved 
" machine," before he scaled his funeral pyre ! 
This testimonial was erected by the Fire Depart- 
ment of New York, to commemorate the untime- 
ly loss of some of its daring members who perish- 
ed beneath the walls of the Sugar Eefinery in 
Duane street, in 1848. " Bbnor citi honor I " Let 
the Conscript Fathers remember the adage, and 



IN GREENWOOD. 21 

encourage the noble exertions of these devoted 
men, for scarcely a fire occurs but some disastrous 
event results, — some more or less injured by the 
sudden fall of the insecure building. On another 
spot is situated a memento of a more appalling 
death, caused by the explosion of " villainous 
saltpetre," during the destructive conflagration of 
1845, striking such terror into the hearts of these 
intrepid fellows, that few dared venture within 
the burning limits until the wide-spreading ruin 
threatened to embrace the entire city, nor was the 
fear of double death overcome by the investiga- 
tion which followed, and the discovery that "salt- 
petre," not gunpowder, caused the terrible disas- 
ter. " Will saltpetre explode ? " is mooted to this 
day. 

Turning from the spot consecrated to the re- 
pose of these unfortunate victims to Yulcan, the 
Fountain claims a passing notice. 



•22 R VMBLING KKFLECTIONS 



(Kljt /niiiitaiH. 

*' The distant torrent's rushing sound 
Tells where the volunied cataract doth roll 
Between those banging rocks, tluit shock yet please the soul." 

Byron. 

Ye wlio have visited the Mercurial City, the 
cauldron of the world, the blood-djed capital of 
France, and seen the far-famed fountains there ! 
Ye vfho have stood on Canada's soil, and viewed 
the torrent as it falls from Montmorency's or 
ISTiagara's height, prepare to wonder now ! In 
vain ye recall your wandering wits, and turn leaf 
after leaf in your rambling recollections ! Vari- 
ous as the face that nature wears, it now no sim- 
ilitude afibrds. Ye who remember the shapeless 
mass of bluish rocks, the vile caricature which 
deformed the Bowling Green, and disgraced the 
graceless city of New York far more than did the 
leaden statue of King George, which preceded it, 
ye, perhaps, may form some idea of the scene, if 
familiar with the hyperbolical idiom of the Em- 
pire State 1 



IN GREENWOOD. 23 

To the untaught be it known, that by " Foun- 
tain " is here meant an elliptical, or circular basin 
of dirt-colored water, more or less in diameter, 
from whose center rises an iron tube, whence 
spouts, at intervals, a small stream of muddy 
liquid, which, falling gently into the receptacle, 
scarcely agitates the half-stagnant water. Ascend- 
ing a well-sodded mound, I reached the much- 
lauded fountain. Mute astonishment seized upon 
me, and I felt with bitter vexation the exceeding 
gullability of ramblers. Shame ! perpetual shame 
upon the men who will not supply a statue and 
an abundant stream of water I Alas ! the good 
people of Maine, having interdicted "grog," cre- 
ate a demand for the " element," hence this econ- 
omy. Had Nature not been prodigal its absence 
would have been unheeded; but as it is, its pro- 
per distribution will beautify the grounds. 



24 RAMBLING KEFLECTIONS 



(£ jl r 30 ? in (P r n lui & 5 . 

• " Oh ! solitude where are the charms 

That sages have seen in thy face, 
Better dwell in tlie midst of alarms 
Than reign in this horrible place !" 

Carelessly I moved by liill and glen, until I 
penetrated the low marshy vale, half covered by 
Crescent Lake and Dale Water. Attractive on 
the map, repulsive in reality, their extended sur- 
faces conceal an unreclaimed soil of considerable 
extent, and like to the Stygian Lake, diffuse me- 
phitic vapors, infecting the atmosphere around 
with noxious exhalations. Eepelled by the of- 
fensive effluvia, I wandered long time dubious, 
lest my erring feet conduct me further into the 
deceptive swamps. Happily a rustic cot is near, 
and from the emaciated denizen I learned the out- 
let from the dangerous locality. 

" If there be indeed 
A shore where mind survives, 'twill be as mind 
All unincorporate : or if there flits 
A shadow of this cumbrous clog of clay, 
Which stalks, raethinks, between our souls and Heaven, 
And fetters us to earth, at least the phantom, 
Whatever it have to fear, will not fear death." 

"ON. 

Perhaps it is true, as the m' 3ne 



IN GREENWOOD. 25 

is never less alone than wlien alone," for then the 
spirits gather ronnd ns and whisper strangest fan- 
cies in our ears, which we, poor dnpes, suppose 
the working of our own brain : Is it not so, An- 
drew Jackson Davis, thou mysterious man ? 

The grass groweth in its season, and when the 
summer endeth, it withereth away — so with man. 
Poor isolated creature, what to thee is past or fu- 
ture ? Thou canst not retrace the one, thou know- 
est naught of other. Thou standest, as it were, 
alone upon the brink of a fearful precipice, from 
which a breath, or rather the want of it, may hurl 
thee to explore the unknown space, about which 
cowled knaves still prate vociferously. To discov- 
er whether Christian, Mussulman, Indian, or Hin- 
doo is most learned ; whether Hell be a burning 
pit, a frozen lake, a barren waste, or inhospitable 
mountain ; whether the route to Heaven be over 
a narrow bridge, across a trackless desert, guarded 
by a moat, or beset with brambles. The admis- 
sion fee, how much ? a golden pippin or a silver 
penny ? " Quantum est in rebus inane /" 

" This remnant, floating o'er the undulation 
Of the subsiding deluge, from its slime, 
When the hot sun has baked the reeking soil 
Into a world, shall give again to Time 
Ne-w beings — years — diseases — sorrow — crime." — Byron. 



26 RAMBLING REFLECTIONS 

I have now traversed the New Ground, and 
well may it be so called, for the damp soil and the 
rank herbage, as well as the lonely feelings which 
come over one, declare its recent formation, for it 
is void, and the spirit of Death rests upon its wa- 
ters. Looking towards the dismal spot, I thought 
of the poor Indian, whose property it had been, 
and the traditions of his race came to my memo- 
ry. There the Spirit Bird had moaned the live- 
long night, and thither the widowed squaw had 
come to learn its tidings of her lord. I wondered 
not that he, in simplicity, supposed the Great 
Spirit had no hand in the making of this world, 
but permitted a huge tortoise to descend to the 
bottom of the deep, and bring up in its mouth 
some black mould, which formed the nucleus of 
this earth. Had he beheld what daily passes on 
its surface, he had supposed it Hell, nor deemed 
Manito conscious of its being. 



IN" grp:enwood. 27 

(D r rn II JH 1 1 . 

" Can storied urn or animated bust 

Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath ? 
Can honor's voice provoke the silent dust, 
Or flattery soothe the dull cold ear of death ?" 

Gray. 

Gloomily I turn my steps to Ocean Hill. The 
thick-set underwood and the dull monotony dis- 
please me — I labor up the ascent* The summit 
reached, I scan the distant horizon for change of 
scene. Before me lies a pretty village — the white 
wreaths ascending from the chimney-tops indi- 
cate the presence of the living, and the glittering 
rays of the western sun, reflected from the win- 
dows, rob the rainbow of its beauteous tints. Far 
as the eye can reach Nature's livery is seen, and 
all looks smiling, even to the wide-spreading sea, 
whose blue waters bound the lovely prospect. 
Man only is miserable — 'midst tears, groans, and 
sufferings, he creeps into the world — cares, toils, 
and anxieties accompany him through it — and he 
quits it in sickness, doubt, and sorrow ; and hav- 
ing left it an ostentatious reverence, not for him, 
but for the thing they fear, begets a show of grief. 



28 RAMBLING REFLECTIONS 

as if tlie King of Terrors could relent, and spare 
his trembling victims. Here, where Death revels, 
many trophies are seen. The remotest times are 
tributary to his triumphs. Emblems of the age 
when Minos and Ehadamanthus ruled the dead 
survive the Pagan era, and though the lines of- 
Pagan poet be erased from the Christian's tomb, 
the flower which signifies the death of Hope still 
blooms unharmed above his head. Ionia, too, is 
searched, and the pillars of her sacred dead reviled 
by their ignoble use. 

Oft, in passing through a wood, I've noted the 
scathed trunk of some hoary monarch of the 
trees, whose uplifted head the bolts of heaven had 
visited too rudely, prostrating the green limbs, 
and riving the stubborn wood too jDroud to fall ; 
but here no fragments tell of such encounter — the 
unfinished rock bears mark of sculptor's hammer. 
The servile imitators of a departed race have rob- 
bed them of their emblems, and robbing them 
have robbed the emblems of their worth. Crea- 
tures of yesterday, know ye not that the broken 
column rears its head where sleeps the last scion 
of a time-honored race ? Who lies here ? Some 
female, or some sucking babe, whose parents breed 



IN GEEENWOOD. 29 

another, and transmit a name scarce known unto 
themselves one generation. 

Here, too, an obelisk is seen, and on its side an 
open book, like to the register of some public 
house, wherein men read who last has lodged 
therein, and underneath lies one of those men who 
think they do God service by scattering dissen- 
sion^ among his creatures. One of those mission- 
aries who, like Butler's Saints, converted many 
heathen nations ; yet, strange to say, the backsli- 
ding of these enlightened people is most unac- 
countable, for had but the tithe remained steadfast 
in the new faith, the entire earth had been Evan- 
gelical, if not Roman Catholic, for the followers 
of Wesley, Luther, and Calvin, have graded the 
road staked out to them by the disciples of Loyola, 
in their ambition to save souls and extend the 
spiritual sway of the Pope, unmindful, of course, 
of the immense wealth pouring into the coffers of 
the order, cozened out of the silly proselytes. How 
long the golden current would have continued, 
God only knows, had not the crowned heads in- 
terposed to save themselves from deposition. 
Scotched, but not killed, the serpent still exists, 
and whether we call it Jesuitical, or Missionary, 



80 RAMBLING REFLECTIONS 

hydra-headed fanaticism is hissing in our midst, 
and threatening our institutions with impious zeaL 
Heed not Romanism for the present ; its central- 
izing spirit will yield to the enlightenment of our 
people ; rather fear the rampant spirit of bigotry, 
flattered by the reverend lecturers on Man and his 
Progressiveness. And Woman, ever foremost in 
the work of love, like to an infernal fury when 
aroused by a seditious leader, must lend a helping 
hand to destroy the peace and harmony of this 
most happy Union. 



€\}t flaiu. 



" When some proud son of man returns to earth, 
Unknown to glory, but upheld by birth, 
The sculptor's art exhausts the pomp of woe, 
A.nd storied urns record who rests below; 
When all is done, upon the tomb is seen. 
Not what he was, but what he should have been." 

Byron. 

Longer had I lingered on Ocean Hill had I not 
descried upon the Plain a tomb of singular con- 
struction. Descending westward the precipitous 
steep, I cross the intermediate space, and gaze 



IlSr GREENWOOD. 81 

upon a Gotliic Charnel House. Situated on an 
artificial mound, and conspicuous from afar, its 
antique shape attracts the eye of the casual wan- 
derer. 'Tis pretty, though the design resembles 
more some ancient prison than a church, to which 
it is by many likened, and spite of the seriousness 
I would maintain, my mind wanders to Don 
Quixote and the Inquisitors of Spain, and I ima- 
gine I see some unshorn Friar committing these 
rambling sketches to the fire. Another Auto de 
Fe, as told by Cervantes, for those godly rascals, 
because they could not catch the authors, burnt 
the writings. ^^ Aiiisi va le "unondeP Priest and 
Princess, both burned, and though the terrestial 
fires be quenched upon the face of civilized earth, 
the Holy Man retains, somewhere near the centre 
of the world, a place called Hell, to which he con' 
signs all hardened unbelievers. 



82 RAMBLING REFLECTIONS 



" This is the way physicians mend or end us, 

Secundum artcm : but although we sneer 

In health — when ill, we call them to attend us. 

Without the least propensity to jeer." 

Byron. 

Musing upon the Old Knight and his attack 
upon the poor sheep, I gradually approach a more 
exciting piece of workmanship. Keclining on a 
couch a dying mother see ! Disease has done its 
work. The haggard face, the sunken breast, the 
wasted limb betray the agony endured. Disciples 
of Esculapius, where the vaunted skill of amulet 
or potion ? Since Hypocrates' day, when Physic 
and Philosophy in friendship parted, his minions 
mock his precepts, and form factions 'mong them- 
selves. Hence, the ills of man accumulate. Ig- 
norant pretenders, styled M. D., these evils aggra- 
vate, and failing to remove the cause, hurry the 
sufferer through life's wretched way, or suddenly 
leave him to abide the fate their absence would 
have stayed. And by her side, on bended knee, 
an infant clasps its tiny hands in seeming prayer. 
Oh ! idle grief, that thus ostentatious seeks relief 



IN GREENWOOD. 33 

in lasting symbol, for ere the body moulder that 
lies beneathj the sorrowing partner may forget his 
loss, and dallying in another's arms, curse the en- 
during stone that reminds him of thy buried 
charms. 



iBBp lUnni BrlL 

" The applause of listening Senates to command, 

The threats of pain and ruin to despise, 

To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land, 

And read their history in a nation's eyes." 

Gray. 

Diverging from the route, I reached a dell most 
aptly named. The refreshing atmosphere invites 
my tarrying there. The dense foliage obstructs 
the burning rays, and permits a twilight through 
the glen. Like to some Ausonian Grove, its fa- 
bled deity sits enthroned in the shadiest part of 
its recess. Two monuments the hollow boasts ; 
the one, a pretty dome, in memory of a young 
man lost at sea, but afterwards found and trans- 
lated here; the other, a memento of a celebrated 



34 RAMBLING REFLECTIONS 

physician and politician, wlio flourished during the 
debates concerning the acquisition of Louisiana, 
but afterwards retrograding, was abandoned by 
his party for not supporting the war for Free Trade 
and Sailors' Eights which followed. Were he 
alive now he might oppose the annexation of 
Cuba, St. Domingo, and South America, in con- 
junction with those who ridicule the filibustero 
speeches of Old Michigan and the Southern Ali- 
gator, from an indisposition to arouse Great Brit- 
ain, as on a former occasion. Ho ! Sir Medicus, 
of what avail thy knowledge? Hast thou, like 
Galen, blunted thy scalpel on goats and monkeys ? 
Lo ! the metatarsi are wanting, and an extra pair 
of metacarp^ the deficiency supply ! The elon- 
gation of the OS coccygis needed no experienced 
eye the difference to detect ! Perhaps, like to a 
certain philosopher, the famed dissector thought 
man a mere biped, minus feathers. Gallince aut 
simce could neither suf&ce to teach thee how thy- 
self to respite when the destroyer came ? Peace 
to thy spirit, and in thy quiet dell repose, thy er- 
rors all forgot, and the good that thou hast done, 
if any, remembered to thy credit ! no epitaph is 
better than false praise, and thy friends, fearing 



IN GREENWOOD. 35 

that fulsome adulation may provoke a sneer from 
those who knew thee living, have carved thy fame 
in Latin, and future generations, ignorant of thy 
frailties, will applaud thy name, and thou, whose 
keen knife mutilated the carcasses of thy kind, 
returned to kindred dust, escape the severe sarcasm 
thy follies may have merited. 

Hark ! from the tomb a voice ascends unto the 
Historic Muse who sits above his head, recording 
all his acts and speeches. "Daughter of Jove, to 
whom Fate assigns the task by many mortals cov- 
eted, transmit the fame of thy departed servant 
unsullied to posterity ! On oblivion's page be en- 
tered my misdeeds, and in the stenography of 
heaven relate my scientific labors ! Commend me 
to my fellow-men. 

"And tell them that, to ease them of then* griefe, 
Their fears of hostile strokes, their aches, losses, 
Their pangs of love, with other incident throes 
That Nature's fragile vessel doth sustain 
In life's uncertain voyage, I did some kindness to them," 

"Son of Apollo," replied the Muse, "'the evil 
that men do lives after them.' In vain my will 
may labor to indite erroneous memoirs, the fatal 
pen, so Jove decrees, will write a faithful record 
of thy past career ! Quitting the retirement fitted 



36 RAMBLING EEFLECTIONS 

to contemplative life, thou soughtest tlie vortex of 
political strife ; abandoning thy self-control, thou 
gavest thy mental powers to the hold of reason's 
direst enemy. Herophilus and Erasistratus thrown 
aside, the seductive voice of Bacchus beguiled thy 
later moments. Scalpel no more had power to 
charm, and though for a time the crucible remained 
half mistress of thy heart, Galen and Faraday 
were displaced by far ignobler names. In the gal- 
lery of Fame thou heidest a place until relin- 
quished by thyself. Yet in justice to thy name, 
be it said, thou wert no less in thy sphere than 
the mighty men of late departed, and in the pan- 
theon of Fame be a niche reserved for the student 
of Esculapius, and however obscured the setting 
rays of thine earthly sun, the effulgence of its 
earlier days brightened many an intellect, and 
may the memory of thy morning of life, and its 
noontide splendor efface the recollections of thy 
departing days, and the caustic tongue of satire be 
stayed by thy imperishable worth. 



m GREENWOOD. 37 



" What speaks of Heaven should by no means be brittle, 
But strong and lasting, till no tongue can tell 
Their names who reared it ; but huge houses fit ill — 
And huge tombs worse — mankind since Adam fell. 
Methinks the story of the Tower of Babel 
Might teach them this much better than I am able." 

Bfron. 

Making my adieus to the silent lecturer, I leave 
him to diet his worms and wander mechanically 
around. Kow here, now there, on every side arise 
enduring monuments of the folly of mankind — a 
foolish pride to leave to other times a name scarce 
known beyond their own domestic firesides. 'Tis 
said, in ancient times the seas overwhelmed earth, 
and all save one tribe perished, old Noah's, the 
great ancestor of the Major, Editor of the ^nday 
Times, now defunct, extinguished by James Gor- 
den Bennet the Ishmaelite. "/SVc transit gloria 
mundi P^ The survivors, apprehensive of another 
rise, or fall, I know not which, attempted to 
construct a tower whose vast height would set 
the waters at defiance. The undertaking failed. 

3 



88 EAMBLING REFLECTIONS 

Some politicians produced a split among tlie work- 
men, and the laborers were discliarged. Caused 
hj their wrangling, a confused jargon superseded 
tlie original language. Factions separated, and 
their cant gave rise to the different dialects prev- 
alent on the face of the globe ; vide Dutch, Irish, 
and Kickapoo. Who the projectors were histo- 
rians say not. Like to the burning of the temple 
at Ephesus, the act alone is recorded. Thus with 
these : the strong superstructures wherein decom- 
pose the putrid remnants of these sons of Mam- 
mon, though seemingly built to hide the inmates 
from the all-seeing eye of th'e Eternal, when the 
fiat will go forth summoning the dead to final judg- 
ment, shall crumble away, and not a stone remain 
their ephemeral existence to indicate. 



" Ere yet the tempest roars, 
Stand to your tackle, mates, and stretch your oars ; 
Contract your swelling sails, and luff to wind." 

Dktden. 

Avast ! ho ! what have we here ? ^^ Pulchrum 
est digito monstmri et dicier, hie est /" Don't you 



IN GREENWOOD. 39 

find it so, Captain? '-^ Exegi monumentum CBre pe- 
rennius /" exclaims the jolly son of Keptune, as lie 
taps his belly after dinner. " Blast the lubber that 
will plough the sea, when he can turn his attention 
to agriculture ! let him give mother earth a dig in 
the ribs and plant his seed as I have done !" A 
little common sense the sailor had, for the tempest- 
tossed biped exhibits his amphibious form chiseled 
from the solid rock. Erect upon a pedestal he 
stands, robed in his usual habiliments. True to 
life, I suppose, for his upper garment fits him like 
a shirt upon a hippopotamus. 

Death closes both eyes of most men, but this 
rare skipper has one of his open, squinting through 
a quadrant. Old mariner ! come tell me what use 
is your astronomy in Heaven ? or Hell, if per- 
chance your clearance be imperfect? By what 
compass can you steer your bark over that un- 
known sea, sans map or chart, over which all must 
travel to that "bourne from whence no visitor re- 
turns ;" unless our learned friend. Judge Edmonds, 
be an instance ? Should this meet the eye of the 
old Triton, he will learn what one thinks of him 
before he slips his cable. Buen viage, Capitan I 



4:0 RAMBLING REFLECTIONS 



(Clirstitit lilU 

" The flower in ripened bloom unmatched, 

Must fall the earliest prey ; 

Though by no hand untimely snatched, 

The leaves must drop away." 

Byron. 

Sauntering leisurely I approacli tlie place 
where, like an oasis in the desert, appears the mai- 
den's sepulchre in this vast amphitheatre of death, 
its light openwork contrasting beautifully with 
the heavy sombre stonework of the surrounding 
tombs. The pretty design, the sketching of the 
fair sleeper, whose full-length figure is enshrined 
beneath the Grothic canopy. A wreath adorns her 
brow, but the descending arch concealing half the 
head, mars the full effect the sorrowing father la- 
bored to produce ; and on either hand a kneeling 
cherubim his vigil keeps over the virgin maid un- 
timely buried there. 

Kest, gentle one ! thy filial heart has found its 
meed, and the fair fane that thou didst plan for 
thy fond mother's sister, has become thine own and 
rendered thee immortal ! Oh ! that some would 
learn from thee " Affection is the forte of woman," 



IN GREENWOOD. 41 

nor strive by otlier means to gain a power incon- 
sistent with her make ! Joan of Arc and she of 
Saragossa might envy thee thy fame, for such as 
theirs would well become a tiger ! Hers was a sad 
fate. ' Costumed for a ball, she mounts the vehicle 
that awaits her orders. Passing an acquaintance's 
house, her father leaves her for a moment. The 
driver quits his seat— the restless steeds, no longer 
feeling the accustomed rein, bound madly on — 
alarmed at the wild speed, the fair occupant leaps 
from within. Oh, fatal leap ! Here was no Tar- 
pean Eock, no Notre Dame, yet in that short leap 
she leaped the world to come — leaped from the 
shore of Time into the sea of dread Eternity. 
Hear, oh Neptune ! in all thy vast domains hast 
thou an image of Eternity ? Old ocean surges- 
calms and storms distress his surface — a cold, chaste 
mistress sways him so that his bosom heaves and 
sinks as suits her pleasure. Hast thou these, 
Eternity ? or is thy course ever onward, uninter- 
ruptedly, like to the smooth current of an endless 
river ? like to thee, great Father of the Waters, 
matchless, noble Mississippi! Adieu, fair dream- 
er I — 



42 EAMBLING REFLECTIONS 

" Light be the turf of thy tomb ! 

May its verdure like emeralds be : 
There should not be the shadow of gloom 
In aught that reminds us of thee." 

The liuge ball with the two pah^s of wings, the 
Egyptian emblem of Eternity, which stands in 
close proximity, is but a sorry device, and looks 
more like an overgrown spider than aught of hu- 
man conception. The mind that can fancy such a 
figure must be as deformed as the object itself. 
However well it may be to borrow what is beauti- 
ful from the ancients, it is hideous to imitate their 
monstrosities. 



SSntth lill. 

" Friend of the brave ! in peril's darkest hour 
Intrepid virtue turns to thee for power; 
To thee the heart its trembling homage yields 
On stormy floods and carnage-covered fields ! " 

Campbell. 

Disgusted with the emblem of Ptolemean su- 
perstition the eye seeks a fairer image, where, like 
to a beacon on some dangerous shore, Hope 
points the road to Heaven. Towering far above 



IK GKEENWOOD. 43 

all other objects pre-eminent, she guides my way 
to Battle Hill, upon whose tumuli repose the ship- 
wrecked pilot and the war-worn soldier. No 
more will the shrill whistle or the loud-stirring 
drum mingle with their dreams, or disturb their 
slumbers ! Who that is of Saxon born, or comes 
of Norman blood commingled with that race, but 
knows St. y alentine's day ! But why allude to it ? 
Has Cupid aught to do with Death? Yes I Troy 
answers, Paris' love of Helen brought ruin on our 
nation. Poetry aside, Uriah's murder sprang from 
feelings of the tender kind— not for him, but for 
his wife, hence his destruction. To the point ! It 
was on St. Valentine's day of '46 a noble ship ap- 
proached this haven, freighted with human cargo. 
The air was cold, keen, and piercing. The wind 
was high, and the sky looked stormy. A pilot 
boat pushed out from shore and reached the ves- 
sel. The tempest gathered. Long ere the vessel 
reached the inner harbor the storm burst upon 
her. The sky lowered, the ocean roared, and the 
winds howled about her- — 

" North, East, and South, in mix'd confusion roar, 
And roll the foaming billows to the shore — 
The cables crack— the sailor's fearful cries 
Ascend ; and sable night involves the skies." Deyden. 



44 RAMBLING REFLECTIONS 

The waves ran mountains high; various efforts 
were made to reach the shore, but all in vain, the 
waters dashed, upon her. One by one her crew 
were swept away, and though the noble vessel 
struggled, the angry sea engulfed her ; and 
when the ocean calmed, the noble man who tried 
to save her, was tossed upon the strand a battered 
corpse, beside a hundred others, who had left 
their native lands to find cold graves in this. 
Why dwell upon the scene ? Jersey's shore had 
never witnessed one like this, and her boldest 
fishermen tremble when they speak of it. Here lies 
that one, the bold Palinurus, Thomas Freeborn, 
who, like his prototype, held fast to the helm un- 
til washed overboard, and the former companions 
of his watery toils have reared this monument to 
his honor. Upon a massy base rests a sarcopha- 
gus, sustaining a well-executed capstan with cable 
coiled around, from the centre of which arises a 
truncated mast, and on the top stands a figure of 
Hope, leaning on an anchor, and pointing to the 
sky. The front of the sarcophagus bears in relief 
a representation of the ship dismasted and found- 
ering in the deep, and in the distance a pilot boat, 
on the cloud-capped billow, hastening to her re- 



IN GEEENWOOD. 4.5 

lief. The wliole is neatly finished, and conspicu- 
ous from the bay. 



" There is a tear for all tliat die, 
A mourner o'er the humblest grave ; 
But nations swell the funeral cry, 
And Triumph weeps above the brave." Byron. 



Where I yet tread is " haunted holy ground." 
The very turf beneath my feet has been, and is, 
the soldiers' sepulchre. Hark ! what funeral notes 
arrest the ear ? Slow, winding round the hill a 
solemn train appears. Two cities here combined 
this last sad homage render. Six sable hearses 
ascend the mound, their ebon plumes amid the 
glittering bayonets waving in horrible contrast. 
A precious load they bear — Pierson, Baxter, Gal- 
ligher. Chandler, Khne, and Forbes. One sad 
volley now and all is over. " Farewell ! farewell 
the pomp and panoply of war I " Was it for this 
the bugle note the love of home dispelled ? Had 
life no charm that ye did rush to meet the mon- 
ster death in bristling arms? Your country's 
glory and a soldier's fame to ye are naught! 
Here must ye lie until the last loud trump your 
reveille will sound, and the angel Gabriel from on 



46 EAMBLING REFLECTIONS 

liigli announce tlie slayer Aziel overcome, and 
summon ye to share his triumpli ! 

This spot has other reminiscences. Here a pow- 
erful foe, with hirelings joined, enacted a dire scene 
of blood and woe. Hard by three thousand fell, 
by sword and bayonet oppressed, or drowned in 
the stream. Brandywine and Bladensburgh are 
here forgot, for this was Freedom's hardest trial. 
Long will my native State this site deplore, and 
weep her children slaughtered, for round about 
this spot were slain the pride of Baltimore. It 
was when the Dog Star rages, of that memorable 
year " that tried men's souls the most," the Conti- 
nental arms here coped with cruel invaders, dis- 
puting, inch by inch, the hallowed soil. Here 
many a brave spirit fell ; and on this consecrated 
spot a chosen band of noted riflemen stood, thin- 
ning with murderous aim the serried ranks of 
Albion's hired hordes. The foe prevailed — dis- 
heartened and repulsed the revolutionists retired: 
so say the annals of that disastrous day. 



" For them is sorrow's purest sigh 
O'er Ocean's heaving bosom sent : 
In vain their bones unburied lie, 
All earth becomes their monument ! " Byron. 



IN GREENWOOD. 47 

Look we to the wave. Lol upon its bosom 
float tlie battered bulks of England, ber proud 
defence wben Spain's Armada toucbed ber coast 
and tbreatened ber witb ruin ; but now tbese no- 
ble decks, wbere trod tbe brave, are living tombs 
wbere breatbe, and scarcely breatbe, tbe stalwart 
sons of Freedom. Her wooden walls mere prisons 
wbere, pent up, tbe valiant men captured by a 
merciless foe meet deatb by foul disease or linger- 
ing starvation. By scores tbe wretcbed prisoners 
die, and tbeir bodies, scarcely cold, are tbrown 
upon tbe waters, tbeir bones to lie bleacbing on 
tbe sbore, if percbance tbey ever reacb it. 

Tbe scene cbanges. A bridge of boats extends 
from Long Island to Manhattan's sbore, a watery 
pageant. Thirteen cof&ns, .emblems of the re- 
volted States, filled witb the remains of the stifled 
prisoners gathered from the shore, cross the 
stream, and wbere the Navy Yard commences, 
their temporary mausoleum stands. For many 
years unhonored is this unpretending vault, though 
ever and anon some generous visitor mentions it, 
and calls upon the nation for a nobler memorial. 
Will they ever have it? Alas! I fear not— re- 
publics ever are ungrateful. 



48 RAMBLING REFLECTIONS 

This monument was built by one Mcliolas Eo- 
maine, a Dutch schoolmaster, whose patriotism 
was stung by the refusal of the Legislature to act 
upon a petition in regard to the memory of these 
republican martyrs. At his own expense he col- 
lected these remains and had them interred, others 
merely joining in the procession. This family 
was also one of much personal influence, if corpo- 
real weight entitled them to it, the aggregate of 
two of its members being over seven hundred 
pounds, without exaggeration. Think of this, 
Aldermen of the city ! The enormous sums ex- 
pended in eating and drinking will never make 
you equal these. Degenerate men! if you be but 
small in body, be great in soul, and make the 
Corporation house these bones in a more becoming 
manner. Charmed with the beautiful prospect, I 
loiter onward with eyes to seaward and the dis- 
tant shore ; but soon the tolling of a solemn knell 
falls heavily on my ear, and, quickening my pace, 
I seek the janitor of the place its cause to learn. 



IN GKEENWOOD. 49 



€)}t dDli cgtitrittirB. 



" The Convent bells are ringing, 
But mournfully and slow ; 
In the grey square turret swinging, 
With a deep sound to and fro." 



Byron. 



In mid ravine the funeral entrance, like to the 
infernal jaws of Hell, is gaping wide. Another 
dweller comes to rest in this, the Ninevah of Death, 
and as the cortege passes the dismal bell gives out 
the knell that consigns him to his mother earth. 
Various as are the modes adopted by mankind to 
hide from surviving friends its kindred dust, all 
are not equally becoming, and one that I have no- 
ticed here I deem disgusting. Among the aborigi- 
nes, some of the western tribes suspended their 
deceased relatives amid the branches of a tree, be- 
yond the reach of prowling animals, others hide 
them in caves, or deep in the earth in sitting pos- 
ture covered them. The early nations burned the 
bodies of the dead, and buried the ashes, or pre- 



50 KAMBLING REFLECTION'S 

served them in urns mannfuctured for tliat pur- 
pose. The Hindoos still burn the inanimate car- 
cass, and sometimes a widow or two to keep it 
company ; and the poorer classes of Asia and Af- 
rica toss them into rivers to batten crocodiles and 
other aqueous gluttons, but here, where God's holy 
word is read, interment of all kinds is denied, and 
the poor sinner, encased in iron or some other ox- 
ydizable metal, is exposed upon the surface of a 
small platform in the rear of a grating, to be bur- 
ied when nature thinks fit to go into convulsions, 
a condition likely to ensue if the shocking prac- 
tice continue, for the Old Lady, of late, has been 
extremely liable to tremulous affections. 

A wooden tenement is here — a nondescript — by 
some much praised, by others censured — all have 
their tastes ; yet I would not censure the company 
because all the permanent improvements are of a 
perishable nature, the erections all frame. The 
infant will creep before it can walk, and though 
speculation be rife in other quarters, it is but char- 
itable to suppose the Dead at least will escape its 
imposition, and if the grounds be enclosed by an 
ordinary fence, it is unkind to think these honor- 
able men will leave them unprotected. When ac- 



IN GREENWOOD. 51 

cased of parsimony or malintent by some wlio 
compare tliis beautiful cemetery with other burial 
places in the United States, delicacy, or the false 
shame which prevents men from pleading poverty, 
forces from them this lame defence : — 

"But may not the taste, at least, be questioned, 
which makes the passage-way from an open space 
to another, through some lofty arch or massive 
building ? Can such a structure look well with 
no support on either side but an ordinary fence?'* 

The impressions made on the mind of the care- 
ful observer are ofttimes unfavorable to those con- 
cerned, and it would be advisable that a more ex- 
plicit statement be made in order to silence calum. 
niators, who style the thing an organized specula- 
tion. 

Feeling no disposition to loiter here, I continue 
on until the innumerable hillocks on either side 
attract my wondering gaze. 

" Let's talk of graves, of worm?, and epitaphs ; 
Make dust our paper, and with raining eyes, 
Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth." 

Shakspeark. 

" At qui sunt ei qui terram occupaveref Parvu- 
los, little children. Thick as grouse upon a prai- 



52 RAMBLING REFLECTIONS 

rie, their little forms tlie ground encumber, dis- 
missed this world by charlatan or conceited regu- 
lar, or careless nurse, or dishonest milkman. " Suf- 
fer little children to come unto me, for such is the 
kingdom of Heaven." Hear ye this, murderers 
of innocents, and tremble ! Know ye not that 
Herod had some touch of pity ? Yea ! the king 
of Judah restricted his decree unto a certain age, 
but ye, scorning limit, cram the grave until Heaven 
feels the surfeit! "Worms!" or "drojDsy of the 
brain !" ye cry, when poison of stupid leech, or the 
prepared pus called "Orange County," has done 
its worst, and the bereaved mother bewails her 
child. 

But what constitutes an M. D. that woman 
should so covet the title, and desire to dispute 
with him a doubtful fame ? List, ladies, and I will 
tell you ! A bit of parchment, a green ribbon, 
and a red seal. A shake of the head like a Chi- 
nese image, a few cant phrases, a jealous disposi- 
tion, and a large supply of impudence, his qualifi- 
cations. Ladies, unsex yourselves ! Doff the ten- 
der susceptibilities of your nature, "the milk of 
human kindness," sweet pity, angelic sympathy, 
and assume an adamantine heart, a brazen front, 



IN GREENWOOD. 53 

and all that ignorance and cold philosopliy is wont 
to wear ! When you do this, no need of gilt diplo- 
mas ! Art cannot debase you more, and Hell will 
need no voucher to claim you for its own, and 
laugh to scorn the endearing superstition that as- 
sumes woman to be the " noblest work of God I" 



" How often "we forget all time, -when lone 
Admiring Nature's universal throne, 
Her woods, her wilds, her waters, the intense 
Reply of hers to our intelligence I " 

Br RON. 

Whither do my footsteps tend ? I am almost 
done ! Two places of note remain as yet to visit, 
but often as I have rambled through these 
shades, I never yet had seen them imtil this time. 
One is McDonald Clark's, the other Do-Hum-me's. 



54 EAMBLING REFLECTIONS 

By Sylvan Water both are laid — a fit spot for be- 
ings of so poetic nature. 

McDonald Clark was one of those gifted or 
half-cracked men, denominated poets, who lived 
the usual time, wrote verses, and died in a garret, 
as authors do who depend upon their wits, if ever 
they have any, as ceased to be the case with this 
poor fellow long before he exchanged his tempo- 
rary lodgings for the cold cell he now inhabits. 
How strangely and how harshly jar the relaxed 
cords in man ! This living instrument, like to the 
Eolian harp, when well-attuned discourses sweet- 
est music, and as the mute zephyr sighs its melo- 
dies across the strained cords of the harmonious 
wood, so does the voiceless spirit of Nature, pene- 
trating the chambers of the soul, breathing o'er 
the heart-strings, bring forth divinest notes, blend- 
ing themselves away till they diffuse an universal 
symphony around : but sever one and the mystical 
sound is broken, and in its place the direst discord 
reigns, such as appeared before the fiat of the Al- 
mighty One reduced chaotic mass to order. "Well 
might the Bard of Avon say — 

" The lunatic, the lover, and the poet, 
Are of imagination all compact ;" 



IN" GREENWOOD. 55 

But I have done witb. tliem ! 

" But ye must wander ■witheringly, 
In other lands to die ; 
And where your father's ashes be, 
Your own can never lie." Byron. 

Do-Hum-Me, a very unpoetic name, was one 
of tliose strange creatures, a " rara avis in terris^^'' 
a pretty Eedskin, for tliougli I have seen many in 
my day, I never yet have met one called beautiful, 
even among the Blackfeet, allowed to be the hand- 
somest of the northern aborigines. No matter ! 
she is the only one left — and she is gone too — of 
all the race from whom we inherit, not by descent, 
but by extermination, these fair lands — and Green- 
wood, too, was once claimed by the broods of some 
copper- colored devil. 

When first the winged canoe touched these 
shores, freighted with the refugees of a foreign 
clime, little did ye dream, in the exercise of a 
rude hospitality, ye warmed a host of vipers into 
life, which one day would hunt ye to the death. 
Keeking with the blood of kindred slain, in Free- 
dom's and Eeligion's name, the flying crew escaped 
the penalty their crimes deserved by immolating 
ye. Oh ! rare return I 



56 RAMBLING REFLECTIONS 

''Ye all have passed away," as Mrs. SigOTirney 
says, "and left no trace of your having been, ex- 
cept tlie name of some of your rivers " — and wlio 
knows but tliey bad others before ye came I Here 
will I rest, by Sylvan Lake, and meditate on man. 
Here the Eed Hunter may have tracked the deer 
— here have blazed the council-fire, or contending 
bands have met in mortal conflict, crimsoning the 
verdant sod with human gore — here have stood 
the stake at which the vanquished burned, or 
glared the flame that consumed the virgin offering, 
the Indian maid, victim of the heathen rite to the 
Indian Ceres. Here, too, reverberated the scalp- 
halloo, or the wild war- dance had its orgies. Here 
the medicine sage culled the charmed herb, led in 
the sacred sun-dance, or distributed amulets to the 
warring crew. Here the young papoose swung 
in its tree-rocked cradle, or the squaw mother, 
bending under the live burden, plodded wearily 
in the moccasin-prints of her savage lord. Here, 
too, the young savage may have sported at mid- 
day, laving his wild limbs in these quiet waters. 
Here, too, will I rest, for I am weary, and like the 
wanderer amid the ruins of Palmyra, will I muse 
on Nature and her laws. Keader, when you reach 



IN GKEENWOOD. 57 

this spot reflect, and may your meditations make 
you better. Eeligion is love — not sexual, univer- 
sal. I know not better to conclude than by quo- 
tation : — 

" I love to wander bj the brook, 
And into Nature's volume look ; 
I love it, for it helps to prove 
Our Saviour is a God of Love. 

"I love the lightning's vivid flash, 
I love the thunder's pealing crash, 
I love the bright sun's dazzling light. 
For these proclaim that God is Might. 

" I love the eagle's towering flight, 
I dearly love the queen of night, 
I love the gentle timid dove, 
They all declare that God is Love. 

" I love the river's rapid flow, 
I love the morning's ruddy glow ; 
They are, like angels from above. 
Bright emblems of a Father's Love." 

Louise. 



FINIS. 



58 KAMBLINa EEFLECTIONS 



Go forth thou little book and roam, 
Till on some shelf thou findst a home ; 
"Whate'er thou art I own thee not, 
Thou bastard brat by hate begot. 

Ting'd with mad thoughts, almost a curse, 
Each line from first to last grows worse ; 
Or better, if the reader think 
What's written worthy of the ink. 

Whate'er he think I freely say,' 
These thoughts have seen the light of day ; 
From other authors each one stole 
Goes forth to make a crusty whole. 

Onward then speed where'er the mind, 
To musing fit may seem inclined ; 
Where'er a discontented soul 
Loves readiog more than sinful bowl. 



Campeadoe. 



IN GREENWOOD. 59 



lintBiS. 



TREFACE. 

Ce n'est que le premier pas qui coute. 
It is only the first step that costs. 
Ad libitum. At discretion. 

De Mortuis nil nisi verum. 

Of the Dead nothing unless true. 

Bon vivants. Good livers. 

Cui bono. What good. 

Pabulum Animi. Food of the Mind. 

Risum teneatis amici. 
Friends, hold your laughter. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Oh hombre, cuan mudables eres ! 
Oh man, how changeable thou art ! 

Nomen stultis est ubique. 

The name of a fool is everywhere. 

THE JOURNEY. 

Jucundus in via pro vehiculo est. 

A lively companion is as good as a stage. 

THE ENTRANCE. 

Ici ils ne parlent pas Francais. 
Here they speak no gibberish. 

" And the sheeted dead 
Did squeak and gibber in the streets of Rome." 

Procul este profani. 
Hence, ye profane. 
Cerebus, the triple-headed dog of Hell. 

THE fireman's MONUMENT. 

Honor cui honor. 

Honor to whom honor is due. 



60 RAMBLING REFLECTIONS, ETC. 

THE NEW GROUNDS. 

Quantum est iu rebus inane. 

How much of emptiness in all things. 

THE PLAIN. 

Auto de fe. Act of faith. 

Ainsi va le monde. Thus goes the world. 

DEEP WOOD DELL. 

Metatarsse, bones of the feet. 

Metacarpffi, bones of the hand. 

Os Coccygis, bone of the rump. 

Gallinae aut simse, chickens or monkeys. 

Herophilus and Erasistratus, the first who dissected 
the human body, preferring living victims for that 
purpose, and were furnished with them by the 
authorities. 

MISCELLANEOUS LOCALITIES. 

Sic transit gloria mundi. 

Thus passes away the glory of the world. 

THE SEA captain's MONUMENT. 

Pulchrum est digito monstrari et dicier, hie est! 
It is beautiful to be pointed out with the finger, and 
to have it said, this is he ! 

Exegi monumentum sere perennius. 

I have erected a monument more lasting than brass. 

THE FUNERAL ENTRANCE. 

At qui sunt ei qui terram occupavere ? 
But who are they who occupy this ground ? 

SYLVAN WATER. 

Kara avis in terris, 
A rare bird on earth. 



N. B. — The Hades or Hell here alluded to, is the ancient abode 
of the Dead, and was divided into two compartments, Elysium 
and Tartarus, and was governed by Pluto and his assistants. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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